‘People who hold anti-Semitic views have no place in the Labour Party. They may be few – the number of cases over the past three years represents less than 0.1% of Labour’s membership of more than half-a-million – but one is too many.

‘Our party must never be a home for such people and never will be. People who use anti-Semitic poison need to understand: you do not do it in my name or the name of my party. You are not our supporters.

‘And anyone who denies that this has surfaced within our party is clearly actually wrong and contributing to the problem.’

Jeremy Corbyn released a video statement on anti-Semitism in Labour (Picture: Getty)

His comments came after deputy leader Tom Watson warned the party faces being lost in a ‘vortex of eternal shame’ unless it addresses the concerns of the Jewish community.

In a stark message, Mr Watson said Labour had to take a ‘long, hard look at ourselves’ and demanded immediate action to end tensions, including fully adopting an international definition of anti-Semitism which the party’s ruling body has so far resisted.

And the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies accused the Labour leader of ‘ideological hostility’ to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism and its 11 examples.

Mr Corbyn has said that seven of the examples have been fully adopted in Labour’s code of conduct, with ‘the essence’ of the other four captured in the document.

But he said there was an issue about ‘half of one example out of 11’ because it could restrict criticism of Israel.

His statement was criticised by Campaign Against Anti-Semitism chairman Gideon Falter, who said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn has released yet another bland statement devoid of any apology for his own anti-Semitism or promises of specific actions.

‘In his Guardian article on Friday he called our concerns ‘overheated rhetoric’ and in this video he says that our concerns must not be dismissed.

‘It is just another contradictory, hypocritical, insincere attempt to whitewash his own role as the author of this nightmare.’